Bid process for proposed new Wilbraham police station to begin soon

Date: 10/23/2014

WILBRAHAM – The request for proposals (RFP) for a proposed new police station is anticipated to be posted by the end of next week.

Members of the Police Station Building Feasibility Subcommittee discussed the current path of the proposed police station at the Board of Selectmen’s Oct. 20 meeting, which included the possibility of a review of site bids by Dec. 1. 

There are two sites that the subcommittee has been reviewing the sites through the preliminary designs from Tecton Architects and on location visits, he said. The first is 10 Post Office Park, located on 1.5 acres near Monson Savings Bank.

The second is 110 Post Office Park, which is on 1.6 acres.

“We’ll wait for the RFPs,” Fontaine explained. “We don’t know whether those folks [who on the properties] will give us an opportunity.”

The subcommittee is also interested in either purchasing or leasing a site location, he added.

“They meet some basic criteria in what we need for square footage and acreage,” Fontaine explained. “The location is on Boston Road, it has the accommodation for all utilities and so forth. There may be some surprises out there [in regards to the RFP], maybe something that offers us better.”

Shelly Hammond, civil engineer and senior project manager for JH Engineering Group, recently reviewed the soils of both sites and found that it is good for building, Fontaine said.

“The next stages are to finalize a design, negotiate and select one of the those sites that come forward, and then meet some cost expectations so we can go to the [board] and make a presentation and ultimately be at Town Meeting next spring,” he explained.

The RFP is expected to delineate a price, Fontaine added. An independent appraiser will review the sites.

“[The RFP] is the whole spectrum; it’s open up to anybody who owns property on Boston Road if they meet the criteria we’re looking for in terms of minimum and maximum acreage,” said subcommittee member Edward Rigney.

The creation of a new police station is dependent on a vote of approval by residents at the 2015 Annual Town Meeting. The Senior Center Building Feasibility Committee is also looking into the possibility of a new senior center. 

In other business, the board appointed Selectman Susan Bunnell to the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District Middle School Task Force at its Oct. 20 meeting.

The task force was created to address a decline in enrollment at middle schools in the district and will likely meet on Oct. 30 at the Thornton Burgess Middle School to discuss organizational aspects of the task force.

Also, the board tabled a vote for an agreement with the University of Massachusetts Boston Collins Center to create a profile and scope of service in the search for a new town administrator. The board is anticipated to vote on the issue at its next meeting.

“I think that too much of this is in flux right now,” Board of Selectmen Chair Robert Russell said. “We’re just getting data in.”

Town Administrator Robert Weitz is expected to retire from his position, effective Nov. 5.

In addition, Assistant Town Accountant Nancy Johnson was approved as acting town accountant for a period of two months or more for $1,254 per week.

Town Accountant JoAnne De Gray is anticipated to retire on Oct. 25.